Devices adapted for use in the aeration of wine have predominantly employed pneumatic pumps, which force air into the wine. For example U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,494,452; 4,785,724; 5,595,104 and 6,508,163 each disclose or employ a motor driven air compressor having a tube conducting air into the wine. The obvious problem with such solutions, aside from the obtrusive mechanics and power requirements, is the adverse agitation and mixing of the sediment back into the wine. Another aeration apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,332,706, where a rotary magnetic mixer motivates a ferrous stir bar within the wine to create a vortex to “pull” air into the vortex for mixing with the wine. Again, while this does tend to add air to the wine, it also stirs up the sediment.
A liquid, such as wine, poured from a bottle having a narrow cylindrical opening tends to come out in spurts rather than in a continuous and steady stream. Traditionally, wine is poured so as to completely flood the neck and thereby causing a vacuum to form in the bottle. Additionally, as the volume depletes the server must be constantly aware of, and adjusting the pour angle, which requires concentration, experience and most of all talent. Accordingly, the traditional ritual of wine pouring often results in over filling and spillage because it is difficult to smoothly pour a liquid from a container having an elongated and narrow neck that is filled with wine. This spurting behavior of any liquid being poured from a bottle is a consequence of fluid mechanics as gravity draws the liquid through the narrow opening. The forces acting on a column of liquid in a container however, not only include a gravitational force, but also a reactive force from the differential pressure of the atmosphere inside and outside of the bottle. When a container with a narrow neck is tipped at an angle to facilitate pouring, liquid initially pours smoothly out of the opening in the neck of the container due to only the force of gravity acting upon the fluid. However, as liquid is further displaced from the bottle, a negative pressure, or vacuum, forms within the now captive air space located directly behind the liquid.
In an attempt to equalize the vacuum formed in this void with the outside ambient atmospheric pressure, air will intermittently enter into the downstream flow, so as to equalize the pressure of the air space in the container, by injecting a “bubble” of air into the stream and thereby offsetting a volume of the wine and in so doing disrupts the laminar flow. Thus, the pressure of the discharged fluid or stream varies over time as air is sporadically admitted into the bottle and the flow of the liquid is interrupted accordingly. This divergence of incoming air results in objectionable spurting or chugging behavior which adversely affects the trajectory of the fluid exiting the opening of the tilted bottle. Hence, one aspect of the disclosed apparatus is directed to the accurate, and controlled, pouring of wine from a substantially tilted bottle.
One solution currently practiced to remedy the aforementioned pouring problem is to provide wine in a compliant bladder having a spigot attached thereto. This “box of wine” packing concept has met with favor to those individuals consuming large amounts of wine who are indifferent to the traditional decorum and desirable decanting of premium wine. Accordingly, boxed wine has enjoyed mass market acceptance by the general public, based largely on the convenience of storing a large volume in a refrigerator with the capability of easily filling a glass with only the push of a button.
One aspect of the disclosed wine pouring regulator is based on a percolation labyrinth, which is defined, for the purposes of this disclosure, as a perforated baffle typically comprising crisscrossing and/or interlinking passageways in order to slowly pass the wine therethrough. The labyrinth or baffle, in one embodiment, may be produced from a wire mesh sheet that is coiled or rolled into a spiral configuration thereby forming a longitudinal cylinder-shaped baffle that is inserted within the stream to disrupt the laminar flow of wine, and thereby initiate a turbulent flow. Moreover, to mitigate the spurting problem associated with pouring a liquid from an elongated neck of a closed container, it has been further discovered that by introducing air into the neck of the bottle, in a controlled and uniform manner, encourages the outflow to form a consistent stream.
It is therefore an object of the disclosed wine pouring regulator to provide a regulated and controlled pouring stream or volume, resulting in a predictable pour.
A further aspect of the disclosed regulator is also attributed to the aforementioned percolation labyrinth to provide an aeration means, whereby air is drawn into and mixed with wine passing through the labyrinth located within a chamber of the housing. As a result of the pressure differential, air is further dispersed within the wine as it is being poured. Most red wines need to be aerated before consumption to complete the volatilization of sulphurous anhydride, as well as remove the strong taste of tannin, a by-product of wine fermentation left in the wine as a natural preservative. Wine begins to oxidize once it comes in contact with air and more specifically, with the oxygen present in the air. The aeration aspect of the disclosed regulator effectuates a much greater volume of air intermixing with the wine than would be possible by simply pouring wine from a bottle, because the air is dispersed into micro-bubbles to increase the overall area of air integration. An additional underlying principle of aeration facilitated by the labyrinth is based on the fact that a larger bubble tends to gravitate more rapidly through the wine thereby expelling much of its wine treating oxygen uselessly into the bottle. Thus, it is important that the air be reduced to bubbles of the smallest possible size and allowed to percolate while passing therethrough and being absorbed within the turbulent wine within the percolation labyrinth of the regulating cartridge, thereby permitting a higher level of oxygen/exposure time and subsequent absorption efficiency.
It is therefore an object of the disclosed embodiments to provide an apparatus and method for obtaining maximum dispersion of air bubbles into a liquid passing within the neck of a bottle.
An additional and advantageous aspect of the disclosed embodiments relates to pouring wine; in particular red wine, where there is generally the formation of one or more airborne droplets dispelled from the main stream, as well as drops affixed about the rim of the bottle, that ultimately gravitate to places outside of the wine glass. A drop or droplet can be defined as a small volume of liquid, bounded completely or almost completely by free surfaces, which forms when the mass of liquid stream approaches zero.
For example, as the water is turned off from a faucet, the diminishing volume allows the surface tension to separate the stream into discrete spherical droplets, much the same as a “dripping” faucet produces drops as gravity stretches the flow and then surface tension manipulates the stream into a sphere, as it breaks away from the rim and falls in free space. Wine, having substantially the same surface tension, responds in the same manner, in that as the pouring is terminated, droplets form along the lip of the bottle. Such droplets are destined to fall away from the bottle opening, and not into the wine glass, thereby staining whatever surface they might come into contact with. This is a problem whenever the flow of liquid from an orifice is interrupted and a portion of the liquid is sheared from the mainstream by an edge of the pouring opening. The volume of the separated portion, in the form of a droplet, is not only dependant on the surface tension of the liquid, but also the lip width and acute angle of the orifice rim relative to the stream trajectory. Therefore, either reducing the specific gravity or increasing the sheer stress will likely decrease, but not eliminate, a drip. However, in the case of wine pouring, the surface tension is typically a constant of about 1.0 centipoise (cP) at room temperature, therefore the pouring lip geometry of the bottle remains to be the only viable alternative available to control droplet formation. Accordingly, the disclosed regulator strives to mitigate droplets by minimizing the thickness of the rim, thereby increasing the shear stress. In view of this, the lip or edge of the wine pouring regulator may be formed with an inwardly sloping radius or camber, wherein by returning the bottle to a vertical position the wine stream reverses direction and draws any potential droplets formed along the rim back into the bottle along the inclined radial surface.
The disclosed embodiments further address the fact that some drips are inherently formed on the rim from the distal side of the interrupted stream and therefore must be intercepted. In this case an integrated gutter or trough circumvents the perimeter of the pouring regulator to capture any such residual liquid and may subsequently drain back into the bottle or alternatively retains the liquid pending a subsequent pour. Also the trough may include a disposable absorbent material. Traditionally, to ensure drip containment, the server is encouraged to simultaneously rotate the bottle as it is returned to an upright position to collect residual wine from the rim, however this is often awkward as it requires a certain level of dexterity to raise and turn the bottle simultaneously. Therefore, it is an additional objective to capture any droplets formed from the interruption of the stream of liquid being poured.
Other and further objects, features and advantages will be apparent and the disclosed embodiments more readily understood from a reading of the following specification and by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, wherein the examples of the presently various embodiments are given for the purposes of disclosure.